Bronze crowns in burials of the Kofun period. Review of burial mounds

This article provides an overview of Kofun period (3rd-7th centuries AD) burial mounds where bronze crowns were found. During the Kofun period, there was no single center ofpower in the archipelago, but the chiefdoms of the central part of the Nara Plain sought to unite the entire territory of the archipelago under their rule. Leaders of the areas distant from Nara retained their power. This was reflected in the arrangement of burial mounds of high-status persons. Important external symbols of the fact that a person of high status was buried in a mound were the size and shape of the mound, additional extensions, cylindrical and sculptural haniwa. The burial mounds located in remote provinces are not very large in size, but they contain diverse and representative funerary equipment: bronze crowns, earrings, jewelry, details of clothing, and footwear items. This paper analyzes the finds and structure of burial mounds in which bronze crowns were found from various regions of the Japanese archipelago. Burial mounds with crowns are located on three islands of the archipelago (the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu). The geographical location of the monuments shows that, on the one hand, the local authorities followed the funerary traditions common for that period; on the other hand, they retained local peculiarities offunerary culture. The internal structure of the mounds consists of horizontal stone chambers. The construction of the burial mounds and the status burial inventory show that local authorities sought to demonstrate the legitimacy of power. An important factor in the presence of status objects in the funerary inventory is the existence of cultural ties with the states of the Korean peninsula. The burial inventory of elite burial mounds could also be supplemented with weapons, armor, horse equipment, and ceramics.